


If Not For The Boy

by Jonjo



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Pre-Slash, Shadow-walker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-04-20
Packaged: 2017-12-09 01:16:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/768275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jonjo/pseuds/Jonjo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Laura’s death, Derek thinks he should become a shadow-walker but an annoying kid keeps awakening his heart.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	If Not For The Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Not mine except for the mistakes (unbetaed).  
>  Contains mention of past Kate Argent/Derek Hale relationship

  
If not for the boy, the shadows would have swallowed him.  
  
During the journey back from New York to Beacon Hills Derek had at least had purpose. He would wake every day and embark on the next stage of his route. Keeping his mind on the road and nursing what little hope he had left.  
  
At night sleep only came after hours of worry. _He should have gone with her, she was his Alpha, how could he have let her go alone? He was selfish. It would be his fault if anything had happened to her. It was all his fault. If he hadn’t met Kate. Kate Argent; his downfall; the downfall of his whole life; his family’s lives; Laura’s life. How could he have done it? She was a hunter. It was his fault. It was all his fault._  
And on and on until exhaustion took hold and he woke the next day still tired but determined to find his sister. During the day he had purpose.  
  
Then he’d reached Beacon Hills and the truth nearly killed him. Laura was dead. Peter had killed her. He was alone.  
  
He’d shut down. Clung to his anger and cut himself off from the rest. He would walk the line. Guard his territory; keep it and its inhabitants safe; keep it Hale land. He vaguely remembered the mythology, the shadow-walker. One neither evil nor good, who followed his purpose unaffected by emotion. Derek had thought he could make that his life.  
  
And he had tried... may even have succeeded if not for the boy. He was not the only thing that kept Derek from isolation but he was the only one who tugged at his heart.  
  
First he’d demanded that Derek look after Scott. And how could he not, he wouldn’t abandon anyone to Peter. But he’d kept coming. Every time Derek had thought he could retreat, something dragged him back. It wasn’t always the boy but he was always there.  
  
That wasn’t it though; his presence was only part of it. It was his aid, his support, his kindness – requested and unrequested but always what was needed.  
  
That had been the beginning. Things had changed: he’d killed his uncle; become Alpha; started a pack; tried to rebuild. But trouble kept coming, this time in the form of Gerard Argent and the Alpha pack.  
  
And Peter was back.  
  
But the boy was still there; playing with his heart, making him care, hope... and _want_ , because now he was becoming a man.  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn’t find a definitive shadow-walker myth but I found this in Urban Dictionary: 'One who walks the line between light and dark, with no ties to either side. With no morals or emotions clouding their judgment, a Shadow Walker is able to accomplish tasks and solve problems in the most efficient and logical way.'  
> And then I played with it a bit. :)
> 
> Any comments would be greatly appreciated.


End file.
